Single-use plastics ban announced by federal government
June 21, 2022On June 19, 2022, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health announced that the federal government published the regulatory text of the Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Ban Regulations.
The regulations will prohibit SUPs including:
• checkout bags;
• cutlery;
• foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics that are hard to recycle;
• ring carriers;
• stir sticks; and
• straws (with some exceptions).
The ban on the manufacture and import of these harmful single-use plastics will come into effect in December 2022. To provide retailers and other businesses in Canada adequate time to transition and to liquidate existing stocks of these items, the government has set an implementation timeline of December 2023 or approximately 18 months from publication. While we understand the federal government was considering an implementation period of six months, following RCC’s advocacy, the final timeline of 18 months offers retailers more breathing room.
The federal government anticipates that the SUP ban will eliminate over 1.3 million tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste and more than 22,000 tonnes of plastic pollution.
The complete regulations will be published on June 22, 2022 in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The Guidance for Selecting Alternatives and Technical Guidelines are also available.
